IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
Extravagance to the fantastic point pursued its outrageous way in the
fifteenth century; the dresses were tightly belted at the waist, and
trailed long lengths upon the floor, while the flat collars of velvet or
fur pointed towards the front and were cut to display a square stomacher,
and the sleeves indulged themselves with many diversions, small ruffles
appearing to finish those which were tight at the wrists. The celebrated,
never-to-be-forgotten horned head-dresses stuffed with tow made their
appearance in England in the reign of Henry V., the reign of Henry VI.
having the privilege of welcoming these in heart-shape; and large turbans
in Turkish form found favour with the women during the greater part of
the reign of Edward IV.
[Illustration: AN ELABORATE HEAD-DRESS IN THE REIGN OF HENRY V.]
The fashion of bordering dresses and skirts with deep flounces of fur
and velvet was introduced rather late in the century, and silken girdles
of conspicuous width were held up by jewelled clasps, and innumerable
gold chains fell round the neck. The round cap, covered by a kerchief
hanging to the ground, was popular, and the steeple form of head-dress
with pendent drapery tucked under the arm was a distinctive feature of
the time. Head-dress in the reign of Henry V. was perhaps as exquisitely
ridiculous as it was ridiculously exquisite, but, whatever its faults,
it possessed the supreme virtue of being becoming. What face would not
look well under the influence of such a head-dress as that sketched on
this page? Picture it made soft and white beneath a turban of colour, and
with jewels flanking it on either side beneath. The horned head-dress
looked its best--and that it had a best is no questionable point--in
jewelled velvet, when beneath it fell a long veil in graceful folds. The
picture on page 42 shows a head-dress accurately planned upon a perfectly
fitting frame, with white at the top and back, and jewelled velvet as an
outline for the ear-pieces, while the band of white across the front is
lawn, again traced with a colour. The sugar-loaf head-dress was usually
ornamented with a band of black velvet embroidered in gold.
[Illustration: ELIZABETH OF WOODVILLE.]
There is a fine record of Elizabeth of Woodville in the British
Museum, her hair pale yellow in colour, arranged with a small curl on
the forehead, and brought up under a high crown, with large closed
arches whence it falls, the points of the arches being finished with
_fleurs-de-lys_. Her dress is of gold brocaded in blue, and the sleeves
are tight-fitting; ermine outlines the shoulders, and a crimson scarf
does its picturesque duty as a girdle, and a broad hem of ermine outlines
the skirt, which is very full and has an extremely long train; and
beneath the dress we are allowed a peep of a blue petticoat and pointed
shoes. Several of the ladies attendant upon all this elegance have the
privilege of appearing with her in the illumination, in high caps with
the hair drawn through the top, short-waisted gowns, and trains with fur
borders. Another gown which had the advantage of serving royalty was
close-fitting and short-waisted, with tight sleeves, embroidered cuffs,
and a collar which took almost the form of a small cape, held in front
with a square brooch jewelled in the centre, and bearing three pendants.
A row of pearls defined the edge of the _décolletage_, a necklace of gold
encircled the throat, and the flat, close-fitting cap was embroidered in
gold.
Elizabeth of Woodville is represented on the previous page in a close,
slightly-pointed coif made of a trellis of ribbon and jewelled above the
cap of black, the filmy white veil hanging over these with much grace;
and the bodice of her velvet dress, which is cut round to show a fine
linen chemisette, bears collar and cuffs of embroidery.
[Illustration: VARIETIES OF THE HENNIN.]
The hennin reached its height of popularity in every sense of the word
in the reign of Edward V. Briefly it may be described as a lawn kerchief
stiffened with canes or wires, these kerchiefs being plain or diapered
with gold, the frame projecting outward from the back of the head, and
beneath it the hair is gathered up into a caul of gold or embroidery. The
original hennin was a tall funnel-shaped tube in brocade worked in beads
and fixed firmly on the head, and from the top floated a fine veil. The
"little hennin" was a short head-dress covered by a veil which fell over
the shoulders. The hennins--and you can see many examples decorating
the coloured page--were large or small, plain or decorated, as the
individual fancy might dictate, and their adoption was common alike to
England and to France, where they afforded a complete change from their
predecessors, the small _béguins_ or hoods, and shared favour with the
two-horned head-dresses, with horns about a yard high. The linen for the
hennin was stiff, to help the fine wire or cane frames to do their duty
with greater success; and to accentuate further their importance there
were great wings on either side, so widely set that the passing of a
doorway was a difficulty.
[Illustration: THE HORNED HEAD-DRESS.]
Priests and husbands inveighed alike against this fashion, and one monk
felt its absurdities so acutely that he rode through the provinces,
deploring the excess of the hennin as of equal gravity with that of
gambling and the throwing of dice. He preached this doctrine so plausibly
that he induced the easily-aroused populace to chase in the streets the
women who were wearing the hennin, and even to spatter them with mud or
pelt them with stones. Such enthusiasm, however, like the photographs of
Hiawatha, "failed completely"; and after the departure of the prophet,
hennins grew and ever grew, and they were decked with jewels and hung
with chains, and all the best obtainable prodigalities of fashion were
consecrated to their honour.
[Illustration: HEAD-DRESS Of JEWELLED VELVET AND LAWN.]
Attention was given, not only to the horned head-dress, which developed
into two high points curled inward with pendent veils from the tops, but
also to the turban, made after the fashion of those worn in the East. It
had thick rolls of silk or velvet round the head, the hair being pulled
up the centre and worn hanging down the back, a drapery assisting in the
Oriental effect. The escoffion--for which, although it is said to have
been introduced by England, there is no English word--is crescent-shaped
like a turban; and a cap which received some patronage was heart-shaped,
made of embroidered material decked with a trellis-work of braid
ornamented with beads, the wide band in front being set with precious
stones, which again took the form of a heart as they rested upon the
forehead. The women of the middle classes wore cloth caps and bands of
material twisted round the head, with wings on either side.
Early in the fifteenth century the scolloped sleeves were introduced, and
the dresses were cut in one in front, and separated at the back with a
sort of basque.
To France we owe the _houppelande_, worn alike by men and women, and
seemingly obsessed by the virtue of comfort. It bears close kinship to
the dressing-gown of to-day, and had at its best a battlemented border
outlined by some contrasting stuff or trimming. It developed various
extravagances of decorations and breadth, but you may see it well shown
in its earliest form in the picture on this page.
[Illustration: THE HOUPPELANDE.]
At the end of the fifteenth century the dresses, well supplied with
large full sleeves, were invariably cut square at the neck, and bore
stomachers jewelled or embroidered, and beneath these were buckles, or
belts or rich girdles with long pendants, like the one illustrated,
which is worn round the hips and fastened in front with three clasps and
tassels. Side by side with this appears the pointed shoe of the period;
made in red patterned with white, it has charms which are obtrusive if
not convincing, though they served to inspire some preacher in France,
more violent than holy, to denounce them as "an outrage against the
Creator."
[Illustration: A GIRDLE.]
[Illustration: A POINTED SHOE.]
The famous Agnes Sorel had considerable influence over the fashions of
her day, and she practised exaggeration with audacity: her hennin was
taller than any other, her skirts were longer, and her bodices lower;
and she would band her forehead and encircle her throat with the most
magnificent jewels.
Elizabeth of York had a fancy for veils richly jewelled at the border and
arranged to form a hood and fall down either side of the face, the hair
being plainly parted on her forehead. The picture on the opposite page
shows her wearing a full gown of silk brocade, with a border of ermine
decorating the hem of this and the sleeves, and putting in its appearance
again straight across the bodice and down the centre of the front. On
her head hangs a stiff mitred head-dress, the inner rim being outlined
with jewels, and her pendent veil reaches nearly to the waist.
[Illustration: ELIZABETH OF YORK.]
Not being content with the weight of brocades and silks they had to
carry, the women burdened themselves with canes with handles bearing
the image of a bird. They carried fans, too, and collected from Spain
perfumed gloves made of kid or silk, with the backs embroidered in gold
or silver; the glove, however, was punctiliously removed when the hand
was given in greeting.
France exhibited a nice sense of colour, and the most popular combination
was a veil of white tissue, a girdle of green wrought with gold, and a
glimpse of violet under-skirt below a brocaded dress "set off with black
shoes."
The _côte hardie_ was improved by being cut open in a point in front,
with revers upon the shoulders, and a lappet of velvet or brocade was
used to fill in the opening, and, turning back, revealed some delicate
tissue of gauze and lace.
The noble ladies of Germany affected much simplicity, adopting this
attitude in contrast to that of the burghers' wives and daughters. Their
costume was narrow in cut, the close-fitting skirt widening as it reached
the ground. The bodices were cut low off the shoulders, laced in front,
with tightly-fitting sleeves that buttoned the whole length, and were
finished by cuffs extending over the hands. The over-dress had wide
sleeves and a long train laced below the waist behind, the fulness held
at the bust with a girdle. Mantles were of a semicircular shape, with
a long train fastening to the front with a buckle, or finished with a
turnover collar held in place with ribbons on the shoulders. The shorter
mantle known as the "tappert" was open at each side, and had a large
upstanding collar and hood, and married women affected a circular cloak
gathered at the neck by a cord and falling in voluminous folds to the hem.
Young girls and matrons braided their hair, or parted it simply in the
centre, and rolled it in two portions bound with ribbon or twisted
fillets; these rolls, brought over the ears to form a frame for the
face, were held in a gold net, with a jewelled pendant in the centre.
A favourite cap had a thickly ruched border, and another, known as the
Burgundian, had a high conical crown with a rounded point, and was worn
over a kerchief with the veil floating behind. Gold bands and crowns
rested on the hair, a rectangular kerchief folded in two receiving
some attention. Shoes were made open with points, and wooden clogs and
goloshes expressed the Teuton caution.
As the century drew to its close further license was visible. High
dress was the exception, all bodices being round with slight points,
the shoulders uncovered, and the back cut down as low as the waist; and
sleeves exhibited much diversity of design, being at times narrow and
at others full, and then again falling far below the hands, or reaching
up to the elbow, ornamented with slashings. Over-dresses were laced at
the back, and invariably the openings were filled in with the chemise,
or a folded fichu, or an embroidered plastron. Men and women alike wore
wonderful chemisettes with wide borders embroidered with silk, or
wrought with pearls, and fur was a decoration beloved of both sexes.
Fur adorns the short over-sleeve of the coat sketched on page 52; and the
wearer, it would seem, had infinitely better fortune in the selection of
his vest and soft shirt than in his mushroom hat, which, made of cloth
and stitched, could not have failed to be at least trying to the most
perfect beauty.
Trains extended themselves when the waists of the bodices grew shorter,
and the dresses were gathered in front, pleats falling from the bust or
just below the short waist. The girdles appeared just below the armpits,
and the sleeves were so long that they had to be turned back from the
wrists, the scolloped border appearing on those which were wide and
wing-shaped.
In France and England splendour followed upon splendour; even the
prayer-books did not escape the general craze for elaboration and
decoration, their covers being emblazoned with jewels and silken
embroidery. Jewels glittered round every fair neck and on every fair
head; and all heads were fair, assisted by art when nature denied such
grace.
The hair and the train were the conspicuous points of magnificence, and
fashion, playing the game of heads and tails, allowed them both to win
her best attention.